OBERHOF/STOCKHOLM. Johannes Thingnes Bö was the big favorite for the sixth gold in the WC.
But Sebastian Samuelsson broke the Norwegian with an unexpected gold rush in the killer back.
– If you want to win WC gold, you have to take a bit of a chance, says the Swede.
There was incredible drama about the medals in the men’s final mass start at the WC. When Johannes Thingnes Bö missed his last shot in the lead, Sebastian Samuelsson and Martin Ponsiluoma got the chance.
Both Swedes pushed hard and went out together, but they had the Norwegian giant just seven seconds behind them.
“That he dares…”
When Samuelsson went for a knock on the killer back Birxsteig, Ponsiluoma could not respond, and Thingnes Bö had no chance to catch up.
– It’s an incredible final round. That he dares to go for it so early in the final round. It takes quite a lot to dare to go to the max in Birxsteig when there is so much left, says SVT’s expert Björn Ferry and continues:
– There are a few who can think clearly when it matters most, the trick is to make it surprising and now Samuelsson is doing exactly that. No one expects it to happen right there.
“Why is he going?”
Mathias Fredriksson was also impressed in SVT’s studio, albeit somewhat surprised.
– Right then and there you thought “why is he leaving so early?”. He cracked Bö completely there. After that he was completely paralyzed, he says.
Coach Johannes Lukas was not quite prepared for Samuelsson to go so hard in the killer back.
– I thought on the fourth lap that he looked damn strong, but I thought “don’t go too hard now”. But at the end you could see that he was really energetic. Of course it tastes good when you hear that he is inhuman. He is very good, but today we are better with two Swedes, he says.
Samuelsson himself explained how his thoughts went after the race.
Samuelsson himself says that he regretted it in the middle of the move.
– I didn’t really know what to do, but when I felt strong in Brixtstag I drove everything I could and thought “if you want to win WC gold, you have to take a little chance and risk something”. I’m glad it worked. There are thousands of Germans who just roar and the body does too. It’s not a nice feeling in any way, but when I get a chance I start to believe it, he says and continues:
– Even though I talked all the time about him (Thingnes Bö) being beatable, he is an incredible athlete. It’s almost like the whole field is aiming for the silver medal, but today I show that he can be beaten even if it’s the WC and he’s doing a good race.
Thingnes Bö confirms that Samuelsson’s jerk broke him.
– My blinds went down when the Swedes went so hard in Birxsteig, he says to NRK.
When Sportbladet then meets him, he says that the Swedish duo was too strong.
– Maybe it was about time for them. For my part, I’ve just tried to hold off as long as possible, but today it exploded.
But now it doesn’t happen again?
– No no no. Done for this year. They are going to Stureplan and celebrate now, I am going home and training.
